Oskar and Jan stood where the pathway dead-ended and opened the scroll. Jan began to translate the ancient text aloud:
“Brave Adventurer,
If you are at this point, it must be the 12th of August. Leave the woodland and pass through the screen of tall grass and enter the field beyond. At the centre of the field you will find a standing stone. At precisely 2PM walk to the end of the stone’s shadow and dig two metres down. You will find a clay jar which contains a key. On the opposite side of the field you will find three gates. Open the lefthand gate with the key and you will find a stone chest. Open this chest and remove a further key from it. Return to the stone and at 3:30PM dig at the limit of its shadow. There you will find a chest, open it with the key and all will be revealed.
Good luck, Adventurer.”
The pair followed the instructions, and in the chest they found a note:
“Return all to the way you found it, and place your quest scroll under a table at the nearest inn. Well done brave Adventurer. You will receive your reward from the barman.”
The pair again followed the instructions, and at the inn they received a voucher for 10% off their next quest. The fantasy world isn’t what it used to be.
I guess we will need to wait and watch the sky today
2021 has been odd in East Anglia weeks of drought-like conditions followed by day after day of rain. We then had another dry spell with thunderstorms predicted for tonight and daily rain for the next week.
It wasn’t exactly like he rode into the sunset in the west, but he certainly rode away. As I sat on a rural roadway with a flat tyre and no spare or phone signal, I was approached by a mounted masked man (well it is the age of Covid) and what I could only assume was his trusty side-kick. He rode down the lane and ascertaining my plight said he would send help from the nearest village. Sure enough about a half hour later a recovery vehicle from the village garage arrived. In the end I was left with the lingering question: “Who was that masked-man, I wanted to thank him?”